De Grazia: The Man and the Myths

19: The Love of His Life

193 19 The Love of His Life Even an “irreverent angel” needs a good companion. —De Grazia1 even as BioGrapher William Reed profiled Marion and Ted enjoying their happy home life in the 1970s, their marriage was in poor shape. De Grazia told Reed, for example, that three or four years before the interview, he had been living in a world of his own. “I was impossible to live with. Now, for the first time in my life, I find myself going home to Mama.” Reed said De Grazia then pulled out his ever-present red handkerchief and blew his nose.2 In reality, there were many nights when De Grazia didn’t go home to Mama.3 Marion adored Ted, but the feeling was far less than mutual. They fought often, after which Ted would go on trips and leave her home. In 1971, at age sixty-two, Ted began a relationship with a beautiful thirty-four-year-old Cherokee woman, Carol Locust, that compounded the marital difficulties. His attorney, Tom McCarville, called Locust “the true love of De Grazia’s life.”4 Their relationship lasted until his death. De Grazia also carried on an affair—or, perhaps more accurately, a fling—in the early ’70s with country singer Sammi Smith. Locust knew about the relationship with Smith but rejected any notion that De Grazia had an affair with her. She said the friendship developed because Smith’s father had just died, and she needed someone to talk to. “Ted and I met with her several times, comforted her the chapTer 19 194 Figure 39. De Grazia carried on an eleven-year love affair with Carol Locust, until he died in 1982. Photo courtesy of Dave Fisher. best we could. She said her father had a beard and old farm hat, and Ted reminded her of him.”5 The issue of whether Marion knew about the affairs or just looked the other way in denial remains open to speculation. Locust said Marion thought she was just someone who worked at Ted’s studio. But Marion apparently knew that De Grazia was carrying on with a “half breed.”6 That slur, however, could apply equally to Locust or to Smith, who was part Apache. The Love of His Life 195 When you came home That evening And told me That an Indian girl Had taken your bracelet Away from you I thought nothing of it But As I know more It was more Than a bracelet 7 De Grazia was twice the age of Smith, who was in her mid-thirties. Smith was best known for her 1971 hit “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” written by Kris Kristofferson. One of few women in the outlaw country music scene during the 1970s, Smith, whose real first name was Jewel, often traveled to the Apache reservations to make pottery and jewelry. She owned a home in Globe, Arizona.8 An oral history interview conducted by Abe Chanin with photographer Jack Sheaffer hinted at De Grazia’s relationship with Smith. Figure 40. De Grazia and country singer Sammi Smith at the Gallery in the Sun. chapTer 19 196 Sheaffer said De Grazia told him not to take a picture of him with Smith. “He didn’t want it up at his gallery,” where Marion would see it.9 In 1976 Smith gave a copy of her album As Long as There’s a Sunday to De Grazia. On the cover she wrote: “To De Grazia. Meeting you and talking with you is my greatest honor. Thank you for sharing part of your life. Love, Sammi Smith.” In 1977 she released another album, Mixed Emotions, which had ten tracks, one of which was “De Grazia’s Song.” The lyrics in part are quite telling: You give me a rainbow every day, And fill my heart and eyes with a sunshine bouquet. So I offer you this melody to drive your cares away, In thanks for the rainbow you give me every day. De Grazia wrote a blurb for the album cover that said, “Sammi Smith is a very good friend of mine. We are both artists. As a painter, I use the full spectrum of colors to paint one beautiful rainbow. Sammi uses the full spectrum of human emotions with a velvet voice. Once you hear that voice you will never forget it. . . . Sammi sings to the whole world. Yet...